Customer Reviews

Contemporary Lampworking : A Practical Guide to Shaping Glass in the Flame

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

During my first year of lampwork beadmaking I found myself going back again and again to study Dunham's excellent textbook. It is well illustrated and goes into good detail concerning process. The book covers basics of soft glass and borosilicate flameworking and compares advantages and disadvantages of the various glass types. There is valuable information I'd not been able to find such as methods for calibration of annealing ovens, the right way to flame anneal, and construction mistake analysis. The photographs of professional lampwork art were both inspiring and humbling for the beginner.

When I first started making glass, there was hardly any information available. You had to pay people you didn't even necessarily like to show you techniques you didn't need to know, but when I viewed Bandhu's first edition of this book, it blew the doors off of anything I had heard anywhere. It introduced me to artists such as Brian Kerkvliet, Robert Mickelson, and Loren Stumph. I have since then taken classes from those artists and have immensely increased not only my repertoire with glass, but also my respect for the art of Glass. I recommend this book to anyone interested in any type of art glass. I'ts benefits are truthfully exponential. thank you Bandhu CHORVAT ART GLASS

This is certainly a large and eye-catching treatment of lampworking, covering a lot of territory. The style of writing is generally easy to follow and comfortable to read. Lots of color photos of beautiful (and inspiring) pieces. These and other positive points are addressed in previous reviews.
On the other hand, the biggest negative point concerns the photos that illustrate techniques. Unlike the gallery pictures, these "how-to" photo series are TINY. It's understandable that the photo size needs to be kept down since there are so many of them. But between the small size and the fact that the photography is often not very good, it can be quite difficult to see what is being illustrated. A number of the photos are just about useless. Since this book is sold as a guide to lampworking, I would contend that this is a pretty significant shortcoming. Fortunately, the drawings are generally quite clear and informative.